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EPA adds Gary site to Superfund National Priorities List

Release Date: 09/15/2011
Contact Information: (EPA) Josh Singer, 312-353-5069, [email protected] (IDEM) Amy Hartsock, (317) 233-4927, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 11-OPA085

(CHICAGO – Sept. 15, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today added the Gary Development Landfill in Gary, Indiana, to the Superfund National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

Before it closed in 1989, the Gary Development Landfill accepted hazardous waste including volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, asbestos, metals and pesticides. The landfill lacked a lining and other waste containment features, which allowed hazardous substances to contaminate an adjacent wetland that borders the Grand Calumet River. The area provides habitat for several state endangered species, including the Marsh Wren.

In 2002, EPA supervised the removal of numerous containers of oil, paint, insecticides and antifreeze from the site. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management conducted an expanded site inspection in 2007 providing data to take action under Superfund. After further investigation, a cleanup strategy will be developed.

Currently, 1,302 sites are on the NPL including the 15 added today. Sixty-two additional sites await final agency action, including 11 new proposed sites announced today. For information on the Superfund NPL, see the Federal Register notice at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm

For more information on the Gary Development Landfill site, contact the EPA’s community involvement coordinator for the site, Janet Pope, 800-621-8431, Ext. 30628, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, or via email at [email protected]. More information is also available online at https://www.epa.gov/region5/cleanup/garylandfill/index.html